Red herring?
Why Man Utd’s dubious history of trying to gazump Man City means jury will be out on Ruben Amorim appointment
One example is arguably the worst transfer in Premier League history
MANCHESTER UNITED have confirmed the appointment of Ruben Amorim as their new team boss.
Amorim, 39, was announced on Friday as United's new head coach - a first in history for the men's team - and will takeover on November 11.
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The Portuguese tactician, dubbed the Special One 2.0, had been heavily linked with a number of top clubs around Europe including Liverpool, Bayern Munich and Barcelona.
It was also widely reported that Manchester City had sounded out Amorim as the potential successor to Pep Guardiola, if the Spaniard were to leave on the expiry of his contract in 2025.
City had distanced themselves from those reports, but the link was only strengthened with the news of Sporting CP director Hugo Viana moving to the reigning Premier League champions next summer.
A report during the Amorim-United saga suggested United CEO Omar Berrada had moved for the ex-midfielder due to his intimate knowledge of City's operation, having previously worked at the club.
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It means United have moved for another City transfer target in an effort to gazump them.
While this new era under Ineos could have already turned the leaf and made this merely coincidental, previous United deals for City targets have not ended well.
The most recent major example of this is the signing of Cristiano Ronaldo.
"CR7" made a triumphant return to Man Utd after shock transfer links emerged suggesting he was set to move to Man City.
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United moved swiftly to prevent a shock move of the legendary figure to their rivals, and while Ronaldo personally had a good goalscoring season, his arrival severely hindered the overall system of the team and stopped the club from moving for other, more urgently needed, targets.
Ronaldo is not the only case of United moving to one-up City, only for the Red Devils to be bitten on the bottom by the deals not working out as well as hoped.
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Harry Maguire and Fred were both linked with City before arriving at Old Trafford.
Former academy stars for United and City respectively in Paul Pogba and Jadon Sancho had reportedly drawn from the Etihad outfit before they completed moves to the red side of Manchester.
Pogba and Sancho signed for United for £89m and £73m respectively with big hopes behind them being able to lead the club to glory.
However, Pogba's time at Old Trafford did not go to plan with inconsistent performances, while Sancho had an almighty fallout with Ten Hag after a disappointing two seasons before being froze out in his third.
Alexis Sanchez is arguably the biggest case of United falling foul of City transfer trickery.
Then-Arsenal star Sanchez was known to be pushing for a move away from the Gunners.
City were the most heavily-linked club, but like in the aforementioned cases, United made a late move for the attacker, eventually completing a swap deal that saw Henrikh Mkhitaryan go the other way.
However, Sanchez bombed at Old Trafford and drained huge resources, with his financial impact working out at a staggering £505,000-a-week, and £11.9m paid for each goal scored.
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The consistent red herring results could be a cause for concern given how Amorim had been linked with City in the past.
However, a new era could signal a new result. Only time will tell.
Ruben Amorim leaves Sporting on a high
By Charlie Wyett
RUBEN AMORIM would have preferred to leave Lisbon in a blaze of glory after winning a third Primeira Liga title.
Yet football does not work like that. And in what was surely his final game before taking charge of Manchester United, Amorim prepared to say his goodbyes at a half-empty Estadio Jose Alvalade in a League Cup quarter-final against Nacional.
Sporting won 3-1 thanks to second-half goals by captain Morten Hjulmand and Viktor Gyokeres, who scored two.
Luis Esteves pulled back for Madeira-based Nacional.
The stadium will be a good deal more lively on Tuesday when Manchester City are here for a Champions League match — although Amorim should by then have his feet firmly under his desk at Old Trafford.
Liverpool and Aston Villa were both interested in Europe’s most sought-after coach. Even City could have been a possible destination post-Pep Guardiola.
Yet the United job is one Amorim, 39, could not turn down — even if not everyone saw it that way at Sporting last night.
There is clearly a huge split in the Portuguese club’s fan base over their coach leaving at this stage of the season with many believing he should have seen the job through.
Yet Amorim, along with the three-man coaching team who are expected to follow him, leaves a club in a much better state than when he arrived here in 2020.
Inside the stadium, there was applause — albeit muted — when his name was read out before the game along with the line-ups.
And there did not appear to be any jeers when Amorim shuffled out from the tunnel awkwardly towards the dugout.
So, while his departure is hard to take for some, none of the fans will forget his legacy.
This is a club which is back as the dominant force in Portugal. Even this term, Sporting have won their first nine league games, scoring 30 goals and conceding just two.
They are also eighth in the Champions League table, which is one hell of an effort.
In contrast, Lisbon was not exactly hit by League Cup fever last night.
Amorim made lots of changes, which saw Sporting’s star man Gyokeres, the former Coventry striker, start on the bench.
There was, however, a first appearance in six weeks for former Tottenham winger Marcus Edwards.
He is certainly one player who has been transformed by Amorim since arriving at the club from Vitoria in 2022 and will be sorry to see the coach leave.
While he changed his team, Amorim stuck with his tried and trusted formation of a back three.
It will certainly be something Manchester United’s fans will have to get used to over the coming months.
But looking at the Premier League table, none of them will be complaining about the change.
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